~ Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without

Multiple Fails

Well, perhaps the largest fail is my weigh-in: 5.2 lbs over my goal weight. I think this blog has some healthy living aspects so I am committed to sharing how my fitness and weight goals are going. Here what I’m going to try to do this week to fix it:

1) 3+ workouts. I already did one (circuits at the gym yesterday). One more gym on Thursday, then hopefully I can get the doodle out on a run this weekend to enjoy some of this perfect running weather.

2) Wear my BodyBugg (found the charger, just need to charge it up and start wearing it).

3) John and I had a very candid talk yesterday about how I have been preparing all of these whole foods but then what I crave is very processed things. These are emotional cravings. I’m not sure if its helping or hurting to make things that are faux-unhealthy treats. On the one hand it helps the craving (sometimes, sometimes only the real deal will do). On the other hand, they keep my taste buds calibrated to less healthy foods and prevent me from moving on to really enjoying the taste of whole foods. I think the key is to leave the meal plan a little more flexible so I can fulfill my cravings as per that day, and not make a whole bunch of meals on the weekend because then they just go bad. Because I get home so late during the week its kind like I have a dinner at school and then a snack when I get home. I think I need to say for a little while that its ok to run out and get food at these times instead of bringing a meal from home. I am running out to get food anyway, I just feel guilty about it.

3) Water, water, water, and kombucha. I need to do a better job bringing an afternoon pick-me-up, as I know I’m going to need one.

4) Alcohol. Less of it. I seem to get in a zone where I think, well nothing I do counts right now because of x,y,z. This is literally never the case, it always counts.

5) Food Logging. Do it.

Other fails this weekend include cheesemaking. I attempted my first hard cheese, Ricki Carroll’s Farmhouse cheddar. I know hard cheeses are never supposed to be direct heated but the instructions clearly state halfway through the recipe to place the pot in a sink of hot water, after its been heated twice. I thought this meant to start on the stove, but I think I was wrong. Other possible culprits could be my home propagated starter, and my cheese press. The curds were far too soft and the yield I feel like was too high.

I actually tried twice, the first time sort of worked, although the resulting block was so soft it broke in half. The second the curds were so weak I couldn’t even use them. I am taking a bit of a break and next time I will do it entirely in the sink, use direct set starter, and my dad is throwing me a round mold and follower. I am going to try to wax and age the two half blocks I have, but then take a break until I can get all my ducks in a row for the next batch. Sadly, even the mozzarella I made this weekend was too dry and didn’t stretch. The curd was one of the best sets I have ever seen, perhaps that was the problem?

It was a bad weekend for cheese all around.

It was NOT a bad weekend for trees. We added two new members to our family this weekend:

They are a sweetheart cherry tree and reliance peach. They are both self-pollinating which suits our small space. Every time we put another tree in the easement I get a little more nervous because I know the city can remove them at will. I just have to remind myself that they weren’t that expensive (50% off tree sale!) and that theres no where else to put them. It will be a few years before they are too big to move if the city comes in anyway. Also, it will be a few years until they are big enough to set a reasonable amount of fruit. Our yard is small and its already hard to find places with enough light. Especially the peach we are a little worried about but hopefully tactical pruning will keep it in the sunshine. We also hope to put in a magnolia tree once we can find one with a high enough crown. We are also planning on putting in quite a few black raspberries, elderberries (shade-lovers), and creeping blueberries in the front yard next year.

Someone else was pretty excited about the idea of killing the lawn too:

He made himself a nice little bed. This little guy has big ideas for landscape design too.

In some exciting news, we got the last share in the CSA we wanted to get into. We will have 26 weeks of 1 bushel of fresh produce a week. I am hoping to have that ($26/wk) plus the cow lease ($28/week) form the basis of most of our meals and only buy things like rice, coffee, tofu, etc. I am also campaigning pretty hard to be surprised with some new members of the family (the winged-kind) come spring. They will not lay until approximately August, but it would be a step in the right direction to self-sufficiency. I am worried about what we would do with the hens once they get too old to lay, so my current plan is to just try to get them at different times so we have a variety of different ages. I plan to keep them after their laying period so it would be nice not to have them all the same age at the same time. The doodle is pretty excited about this possibility, among others.